WhyFi

This is one of the reasons that I almost never asked about budget until I'd over-shot it and they balked... Can't make assumptions and you might as well aim high - you'd be surprised at how often my customers would, with a smile on their face, slap down their credit card while saying, "I never thought I'd spend this much..."

Blue Belly

I don't know anything about these frames & don't usually recommend this level of componentry however, nashbar is selling complete carbon bikes for $1k, right now with 105 & tiagra. Worth a look. They also have high end Mavic pedals on the cheap.

gsa103

Tiagra is generally considered as entry level. Claris is a rename for the old 2300 which was generally considered below entry level. Sora is commonly regarded as the bottom-end, with Tiagra being just a little better. A shop showing you something above bottom of the barrel isn't a bad shop, they're trying to see what you actually wanted.

Heck, many people would consider 105 as "entry-level", since its the lowest groupset for carbon bikes.

cpach

What entry level means is contextual. For what it's worth Claris is a different product than 2300 (it's 2400, actually)--it's 8 speed, but upshifts with the brake lever like upper end Shimano, unlike 2300 (and older Sora). It actually sounds like a nice product on paper; I have no idea how it actually stacks up in real use. I suspect it works fine.

Will Goes Boing

The first thing that comes out of most customer's mouth is, "I'm not a pro or anything so I don't need like a $1000 bike". Your average novice cyclist just getting into the sport have the preconceived notion that $1000 is expensive and from personal experience their budget is always around the $400 range. I usually do a pretty good job at explaining to the customer that just because they are a "beginner" right now doesn't mean they will be a "beginner" 6 months or a year down the road.

The key is to buy the best bike they can afford so that they won't out grow it and feel the need to get something better as they get more into the sport. Most end up walking out spending much more than they originally expected.... and they will THANK me later down the road.

wphamilton

Isn't the usual advice for a beginner to purchase as inexpensively as feasible for a decent bike? In order to find out what they actually want in a bike and whether they're going to even stick with it, then spend more on the second bike.

Even if you're not going down that road, it's really a foolish move when buying, to just get the most expensive you can afford. With respect to anything, bicycles no exception. And that's what I've got against that question, even though it's obviously helpful to a salesman to know what the buyer's anticipated price range is. You said it yourself - the novice cyclist walks in with a preconceived notion of a price much lower than the kind of bike he's thinking about costs. Why do you want to know his maximum, just to see how deep his pockets are? He doesn't know about bike value yet - maybe that's the salesman's job to inform him before asking about price?

If the knowledgeable salesman ascertains what kind of riding the customer will do, what his skills and inclinations will be (such as racing, downhill bombing, Sunday on the path etc etc), what features the customer currently values in a bike, the salesman should be able to lay out a range of prices and be able to explain the benefits of each, relative to the customer's circumstances. At that point it would be relevant to discuss the most he's willing to pay.

WhyFi

And? That wasn't the point of what I was saying. If they volunteer that their budget is X, that's fine - work with it. What I'm saying is - if you want to sell higher-end gear, you don't talk price, you don't guess what their budget is and you don't spend with your own wallet, you just walk them over to the coolest thing in the store (that's appropriate given your prior qualification questions). Most of the time, it's too expensive for them - that's fine, it's easy to work your way down (working your way up is considerably harder) - but every once in a while you get a bite.

NoviceJohn

Entry level has a different meaning for everyone. For a very experienced rider (like yourself), you've probably have ridden every tiers of components and know their pros and cons of each and anything below tiagra is not entry level. I got many opinions (not including LBSs I visited) and some suggested the sora and some suggested the 2400 set based on the reason (only for exercise) I want to buy a road bike. Since this is my 1st road bike, I went with the 2400 set because it's an upgrade from a big box store bike regardless of what set I've selected. Plus, my budget was relatively low considering I'm still in college. Later down the line (most likely after I graduate and get a new job), I may upgrade my components (or buy a new bike) if I'm still riding as much as I do now. However, for now, I'm happy with my bike.

coasting 

How to judge a good bike shop?

Talk to the sales person. Look carefully at his upper lip. If there is no stubble, the shop employs clueless kids earning a bit of pocket money and who know nothing. Run away.

roadie7

This is an excellent question so hopefully these ideas help: 1. Does the sales person ask "what type of riding are planning to do? While it may mean road riding, the questions go further to long distance training, racing, short rides with the kids, type of road. 2. Does the sales person take the time to educate you and give you options given your budget. For instance, does she/he discuss the pros and cons of types of materials and gearing option in broad strokes? Do they point out the pros and cons of bikes in your price range? 3. Can you test ride several bikes? When you return from the test ride, do they ask questions about how you felt on the bike?

Hope this helps.

seymour1910

when I decided to take up this sport I was given this advice and thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Now that I have a LITTLE experience, I have found this to be VERY true. There is a shop local to me that does have nice bikes and a nice staff, but they are all really young guy's. I have found that the knowledge base is just not that deep, it does seem that they are guy's just there to make a few bucks while in college. There is another shop where both the mechanics have white beards, and I swear they can fix anything, and answer any question.